The Wings of Death
by Evil Endings
Summary: Two Shinigami children. One Kishin attack. No going back. When Death the Raven, is separated from her family, she must learn to survive on her own with no memory of the past events. Plagued by visions of her past, she must try to discover what they mean, and where she comes from. And just who is the Kid that her visions seem to be centred around. Slight Nightmare Before XMas XOve
1. Prologue - Ambush

**PROLOGUE – Ambush**

The sun was setting over Death City, sighing as it tried to fight of sleep. The desert surrounding the city seemed to glow as the sun dropped below the dunes. The forest that wound round the back of Death City dropped in to an eerie silence. All of the animals had gone to their sets and nests as the darkness swallowed the trees.

A sudden crack of a twig broke the silence. The few nocturnal animals that inhabited the forest flew and scampered away as a group of people trudged along a sandy path. The peaceful silence had started to return until it was stopped again by a loud, angry yelling.

"What did you do that for, Kid?" One of the party, a girl the age of 9 yelled at her brother. She was pointing to the remains of a small warren made by a rabbit at the side of the path which had been obliterated, "What kind of sick person would destroy a creature's home?"

"It was ruining the symmetry of the forest." The boy explained simply, stopping to turn at his sister, "You still don't get the concept of symmetry, do you, Raven?"

"Oh shut up about 'Symmetry'. I'm glad I don't care about it as much as you." She argued. Kid opened his mouth to speak but he was stopped by another loud shout, "And what gives _you _to talk about symmetry. You're not very symmetrical are you?" Raven pointed at the three white stripes on the left side of his black hair.

Kid's expression immediately changed in to one of pure depression as he began to slowly sink to the sandy ground. Raven smirked at the reaction. _Perfect._

Her glee was short lived when she noticed a figure dressed in a white lab coat and brown and grey jumper striding towards her.

She quickly swapped her smirk for an innocent smile as she twisted round to face the man. "Um...hello Uncle Stein*."

"What's going on here, Raven?" He asked, sighing.

"Nothing..."

"Then why is Kid on the floor thumping the ground with his fist?" He lifted his shining glasses up and the stitch marks on his face became more visible.

"Ah...well...Hey! Why do you always suspect it was me that was doing something wrong?" She queried, frowning.

Stein sighed – again, "Because it usually _is _you who's done something wrong."

Raven snorted, "Well that's not very open-minded."

Stein ignored her and started on working on a way to motivate Kid.

"No, no. You're doing it all wrong." Raven told him, as she watched Stein's attempts to get Kid up.

"Oh, and how _should _I do it, hmm?" He asked sarcastically.

"Like this." Raven drew her leg back and kicked Kid as hard as she could in his side. Her brother yowled in pain and shot up, quaking. Stein shot a cold glance at Raven who was smiling sweetly at him.

"Are we _quite _done back there?" A new voice asked from the front of the group.

"Yes Spirit, I should say we were." Stein said calmly, shooting a glance at the rivalling twins.

"Good, Maka is getting cold just waiting for you two to hurry up." He pointed to the small girl who was also 9 that was stood next to him.

"It's all right, we're coming." Stein started striding of to catch up to Spirit and Maka, leaving Raven and Kid alone.

_Yes, lets all go for little _Maka. _It's not like I'm younger or anything, no. And she's just about to move up in to the DWMA. Why do I have to be so young? It's unfair. And Maka and I would have moved up together – but she gets one mark higher than me in a test and she gets moved up a year! I hate her! _Father _probably didn't want to show favouritism, but that still doesn't give a reason to why _she _always thought that she was better than every body else._

Raven's thoughts were still wandering when Kid broke the silence.

"Well you're not very symmetrical either." Kid restarted the argument – only quieter.

Raven glared at her sorry excuse for a brother. "I'm glad I'm not symmetrical, 'cause if I was you'd go and parade me around like a prized possession."

Kid snorted, "I liked you better when you were quiet."

"Well I liked _you _better when I wasn't born so I didn't have to listen to your non-stop ramblings."

With that Raven shot on ahead, racing across the path sending sand flying in to her pursuing brother's face. She charged on, passed Stein, Spirit and Maka and only stopped when she saw the great marble structure that was Death Manor. Death Manor was the most impressive building in the whole of Death City, apart from the Death Weapon Meister Academy.

As Raven waited, she found herself daydreaming again, _I can't wait to go to the DWMA! It'll be so fun, and exciting! There will be so many cool missions to go on, I wonder who my weapon will be? I hope they're really cool! And, I wont have to deal with Kid there. He's stupid not wanting to go to the DWMA, who wouldn't want to go? I knew he was nuts._

"Raven, are you coming?" While she had been dreaming, the group had passed her, she whipped her head round to see Stein glaring at her impatiently.

Raven quickly turned and sprang over to the group, smiling.

"And what are you so happy about?" Kid fixed her with his usual unblinking stare.

The young girl giggled, "Oh, nothing." When her brother gave her an expression of disbelief, she smiled at him sweetly, "I thought I said it was nothing."

She shoved him and ran to the great oak door of Death Manor, which Stein and just unlocked with a skull shaped key. She hauled open the door and stepped in.

Before the others could follow, Raven was flung out, emitting a horrible scream of pain. She landed on the strip of glossy black pebbles that lined Death Manor's entrance. Stein shot a worried glance at Raven who was struggling to her feet, before turning and edging forwards to find out what the _thing _was inside of the building.

All too soon, he found out. A mass of writhing, dark grey creatures swarmed out of the building.

"Spirit!" The professor yelled. The red-headed man nodded.

"Maka, stay here with Kid and Raven," Spirit told his daughter as he pushed her in to the safety of the bordering trees with the siblings.

Maka nodded solemnly and sat down on a fallen branch, tears beginning to appear and her face distorted with worry. Raven cast a scathing look over the girl, _Pathetic. _She looked away to see Maka's Father change in to a menacing death scythe.

"Kishin!" Stein growled to Spirit as they tackled the mass of creatures. Stein wielded the scythe with expert ease, but the mass of monsters kept on coming, showing no signs of stopping.

Whilst the adults were struggling against the creatures, the three children watched intently from their hiding place in the dense shrubbery. Raven and Kid were stood side by side, peering through the leaves to get a better view, whilst Maka was still sat on the broken branch, shivering and weeping.

As Maka's sobbing grew louder, the two siblings turned round and made a disgusted noise in unison before turning back.

"0Gah!" Raven yelped as a wave of monsters turned and slowly marched towards them , like they had all the time in the world to get them. "Great, now look what you've done,_ Maka_."She spat the name, and shot a glare at the blond-haired girl, noticing she had a look of hurt on her face.

"Uh, Raven?" Kid called nervously, turning his head slowly to face her, and tilting it towards the oncoming mass, "What do we do?"

Raven shrugged, "I have absolutely no idea."

"Gee, that's helpful , _Raven._" Maka said spitefully, she fixed the girl with a stare of pure hate which was distracting Raven from coming up with a plan.

"Will you just stop staring and help me think?" Raven shook her head, clearing her mind and began to think of a plan. A flash of black and red caught her eye and she saw Professor Stein throwing scythe Spirit in to the air, watching him slice through the monsters as if they were butter.

"That's it!"

"What's 'it'?" Asked Kid, eager for an idea when he saw the creatures drawing closer to them, still moving with the same, steady pace they were using before.

"Your skateboard! Thingy..." Raven paused, trying to think of the skateboard's name.

"Beelzebub," her brother corrected her, "But you're right, that's a good plan." Without another word Kid held his hand out in front of his body and summoned his skateboard.

"How can that old thing save us?" Maka had stopped crying now and was looking at Beelzebub disbelievingly.

Raven rolled her bright blue eyes while Kid snorted and said, "Just wait." It was then that the skateboard's true properties were revealed. At the boy's touch, Beelzebub's wheels turned horizontally against the underside, and the skateboard now hovered in the air.

"Hmph." Was Maka's only comment before she got up from her log and went to stand next to Kid.

"Right, Raven, get on," he motioned towards his sister, then the skateboard. Obediently, Raven leapt on, having had practice before. "Now you, Maka." The girl nodded and carefully stepped on Beelzebub, wobbling it violently as she she did so.

Raven sighed and gave her a reproachful look before Kid jumped on in front of his sister and took off. Kid steered them up, almost vertically, through a gap in the thick canopy. Once they were higher than the trees, they hovered above the battle field, not knowing what to do next.

Raven surveyed the battlefield, looking at the monsters and almost laughing; they were walking around in circles, bumping in to each other, wondering where their prey had gone.

Looking up, Stein noticed the children hovering above the fight and called to them, "Go to the house," noticing their confusion (because the entrance was blocked by more Kishin), "Use the balcony, hide there. Contact someone." He wished to say more, but he was brought back to the fight by Spirit who was calling his name, urging him to fend off the attackers.

"Right," Raven said, tapping Kid on the shoulder, "Let's go."

"Who put you in charge?" Maka muttered, not meaning for the other girl to hear. But she did hear and Raven stamped on Maka's foot, half-hoping that she would fall off. _Why does she have to be _so _annoying? _Raven asked herself, but was brought back to reality with the feeling of Kid setting off again.

Maka suddenly tensed behind her. "Kid..." she whispered, shivering.

"You're right," he murmured, Raven could hear slight panic in his voice as well. All the same, she didn't like being left out of the conversation.

"Kid, what's going on?" She never got her answer, because at that second, Kid, yelled, "JUMP!" She saw Maka and Kid leaping in unison, on to the shrubbery below.

" KID!" The young Shinigami screamed as she drew nearer to the house. She could now feel something. Heat...the mansion was on fire! The skateboard flew closer to her burning home. Unable to control it, Raven crouched down and clung on, finding herself rooted to the skateboard, not able to jump.

It all happened in a split second, Raven could hear the screams of herself and her brother, the roar of the flames from the burning building, before it exploded.

The girl was flung through the air, on to a patch of dry, hard ground at the edge of the clearing.

From her bleary vision, she saw the writhing grey mass slowly drawing away and vanishing from sight. She saw Stein coming over and kneeling beside her body. Then Kid came, leaning over her face, he whispered three words, "I love you."

Raven tried to say something but found her vision becoming black and the sounds melting away, she knew what was happening; she was going to die.

*Uncle, here, is meant in a non-family way. They're not related or anything. 0.o

**A.N. Hey guys, Evil here. With the first instalment of my new Fan Fiction, The Wings of Death. This IS a Soul Eater Fan Fic, if you don't know what that is, then GOOGLE IT, NAOW. AND, it is also a Nightmare Before Christmas Fan Fiction too! Oh, the exitement. Anyway, as you can probably tell, the main character in this will be Death the Raven. Follow this story to find out all the antics she gets up to with her friends from Halloween Town, and Death City. But be warned, it won't all be happy. But if it was, it wouldn't be an Evil Fan Fiction then would it.**

**Well, as always, please R + R, and I'll see you in Chapter 1.**

**:EDIT: Holy...wow, I didn't think I had written so much, 2036 words (in the story only, not counting the '*'). Well, I hope it's not too much.**


	2. Chapter 1 - Welcome to Valentines Town

**CHAPTER 1 – Welcome to Valentines Town**

Cheerful music filled the air and young children laughed joyfully in the middle of purple paved streets. All the walls of the town were covered in different shades of pink, hearts of all shapes and sizes were plastered everywhere; to the lamp-posts, to the walls, to the windows of houses and shops, to the ground... They were everywhere.

Human-like creatures were flapping about just above the ground, talking to people, surveying the town. A couple of others were speeding round delivering messages or setting about tasks. Each of the creature's wings were a different shade of pink, just adding to the amount of warm colours in the town.

One thing stood out from the cheery citizens and visitors, from the walls, from the shops – from everything pink. This 'one thing' was a man. A man dressed in a white lab coat with stitches on it. As he surveyed the town, people and creatures alike stopped what they were doing to look at the person. A row of stitches also covered his face, and his glasses shone coldly, the complete opposite of the general atmosphere of the town. But the most prominent feature of the man was the large screw that was in his head. He started twisting it as he observed the town, making an ominous creaking noise.

The man in white strode onwards, taking note of the heart covered streets and shops, hardly looking when he walked past the creatures.

_ Cupids, _he thought, _What an odd place this is..._ He took a series of twists and turns along the purple streets, only disturbed from his march when something in his pocket started moving. The man looked at the source of the movement before carrying on as if nothing had happened.

The next thing he knew, a black blur shot out of his pocket, sending the grey button flying away down the street.

"Raven!" The man hissed at the bird that was hovering next to him.

_What?! _A young girl's voice spoke in his mind, _I don't see why I have to be in there! It's horrible, and uncomfortable._

"What you mean is you just like stirring up trouble." He said to her, rolling his eyes.

_I honestly have no idea what you are talking about, Stein. _The bird said innocently, landing on the large screw on his head.

Professor Stein sighed, and hoped they were going to reach their destination soon. He continued striding forwards strongly, not caring about how many more glances he was getting now he had a raven perched on his screw.

Raven didn't take any notice either, that or she didn't realise how conspicuous she and the professor were being. Carefree, she twisted her head and started preening her midnight black feathers, keeping an eye on the surrounding area, keeping her right eye covered by some extra long feathers that were hanging down from the top of her head. The feathers had three thin white stripes on them, but hardly anyone ever noticed them.

She didn't know how long she had been walking – or rather how long Stein had been walking and she had been hitching a lift – before the Professor called out, "We're here." Raven looked up from her perch, and had to tilt her feathered head back to take in the hight of the building.

_Wow. _Raven was stunned, this building didn't seem to fit with the theme of the whole town. Although she had managed to sum the town up in two words, 'Sickeningly Pink.' This building however, was purple, but it was a much darker, spookier purple than the bright centre of the town.

_What is this place? _The bird tilted her head to look down at Stein, tilting her head quizzically.

"You'll soon see." And with that, he strode into the building.

~00~

The inside of the building was full of winding corridors, each painted in the same dark purple as the outside of the building, the only lighting were small candles that burned with a pink flame.

_How the..._ Raven was confused, very confused. How was different coloured flames possible?

"Magic." Stein told her, working his way though the various corridors, trying to get to their destination. Raven thought he was mocking her, and detected a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

After another 5 minutes of walking, Raven was growing bored, _Seriously, are we nearly there yet? _

"I have no idea." The usually smart Professor was also looking baffled.

_Are you sure we haven't passed through this corridor before?_

"How can you tell?"

_Because we've been past that picture 3 times now. _She said, motioning to a picture of a heart with a witches hat on it.

"Oh. Well, lets see if we can make any head way." Before he could head off again, a high pitched laughing filled the corridor, sending Raven into the air, panicked. The laughter didn't seem sinister, but the tone of voice seemed to sound slightly crazy. It reminded Raven of someone.

Raven was surprised to see that Stein had seemed to recognise the voice, but how? All of the girl's questions were answered when the owner of the voice appeared at the end of the hallway.

The woman was relatively tall, with short black hair with purple streaks running through it. Her bright green eyes sparkled with the pink light from the candles. She hopped over to the pair like she was a child, beaming with a wide smile.

"Hello, Jemma." Stein said, smiling slightly.

"Hi, bro!" She tackled him in a tight hug which almost knocked him over, Raven quickly rising in to the air to avoid being caught in the embrace.

When Jemma had finally finished hugging Stein, Raven flew back to her perch, again, hoping there wouldn't be any more things happening to make her fly away again.

"Ah, so this must be Raven then." Jemma looked at the bird who was perched on the screw in Stein's head, "I thought you said that she was a _girl._" She added more quietly to the Professor. Raven narrowed her eyes, _I am here you know! _She interrupted indignantly.

Jemma looked startled, "Ah, sorry!"

"Raven," Stein said to her, "This is Jemma, my younger sister."

_Since when did you have a sister? _Raven spoke into his mind only, not wanting Jemma to hear their conversation.

"Since she was born."

_That's helpful. _Raven said sarcastically.

"Anyway, you shall stay with Jemma for a while -" _Why? _Raven asked, confused.

"Just because," Stein shot her a death glare which made her fall silent immediately.

"Hey, Stein, again, I thought you said she was a girl?"

_I am. _Raven told her, looking directly towards her with her shining right eye.

"Ho-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Raven flew into the air, rising higher in the air. At the pinnacle of her climb, a flash of black light surrounded the bird. When the black light disappeared, there was no more bird. A young girl was now standing there. Her hair was raven black, with three white stripes on the right hand side (her right hand side), which was covering her eye. She was dressed in a white dress with a black belt and three black stripes running vertically down each shoulder. Her blue eye gleamed when she saw the obvious expression of shock on Jemma's face. She unfurled her black wings from her back and ruffled them slightly, looking devilish.

"Whaaa-?" Jemma was speechless, staring at Raven in amazement.

_Wow, the bird's a girl, oh my god. _Raven said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"As I said, Jemma," Stein whispered to his sister so Raven couldn't hear, "I...experimented."

"By turning her into a bird?!" She hissed, almost inaudibly.

"Well, yes."

"And what's with the telepathy?"

"Side effect."

"You are unbelievable."

"Anyway," Stein turned back to Raven, who had been reading the pair's thoughts to tell what they were conversing about, "I need to go now, so you will stay with Jemma for a while -"

"But -"

"You will behave and do everything she tells you, and" he fixed her with a hard, cold stare, before continuing, "No mind reading."

Raven nodded submissively, not wanting to earn another glare from the Professor.

"Well, I'll be off," Stein said, "If I can find my way out that is..."

Jemma chuckled, "Take two lefts, then 3 rights, then another left and you're there."

"Okay, thank you." He strode down the end of the corridor, "Bye, Raven, Jemma." With that, he turned right down the next hallway.

"Professor," Raven called, "It's left." A second later Stein appeared from around the corner and walked the correct way, as if his previous mistake had never happened.

"Come on, Raven, I'll take you to my study." Jemma said starting to walk in the opposite direction to which her brother left by, Raven following behind.

_ Can I ask you a quick question? _Raven queried, and when Jemma nodded she asked, _Are you mad too?_

"I sincerely hope not," she laughed, "But I know that my brother is famed for that, though."

_Mmm._ Raven agreed, thinking, _I still can't believe that you're his sister, you don't look anything like each other._

Jemma chuckled again, "I know, I got the good looks of the family, he got the brains." It was then that Raven decided that she liked this woman.

Before she knew it, Jemma spoke to her, "We're here." In front of them were a pair of wooden oak doors, painted a light purple with big brass handles.

_Well, at least you know your way around._ Raven commented, before raising a thin black eyebrow as the oak doors opened by themselves.

Jemma laughed slightly, "I have been in this house 10 years now, though." She led the way into the darkened room ahead.

_I'd hardly call it a house, _Raven smiled, _It's more of a mansion._ In the shadows, she could tell the room was very large with big metal and glass machines and equipment.

"Not really." Jemma said before switching on the lights to the huge room. Raven gasped, it was even bigger than she expected. It was clear on first sight – the room was a laboratory.

_You too? _Raven was shocked, she didn't think that someone like Jemma would be a scientist too.

"Well, not really," the woman began, waving her hand to get Raven to follow her towards the far wall of the lab, "It's a long story," she paused, "But first, let me show you something." She pulled back a long pink curtain to reveal a stunning sight.

They were looking down at the sickeningly pink town, light purple clouds hanging just above the window. Raven hadn't realised they were so high, as far as she knew, all the corridors had been flat.

_How...? _

Before she could utter another word, Jemma put her finger in front of Raven's lips and spread her free arm in a wide, horizontal ark, "Raven. Welcome to Valentines Town!"

** A.N. Hey! Hope you like this, the second instalment of The Wings of Death. Don't worry, Jack and the others will be in the next chapter! :D I'm sorry it's so long, but I usually hate writing Chapter 1's but I went crazy this time! So, please, do R&R, because I get discouraged if no one reviews or follows. So if you want more Raven and the rest, keep reading!**


	3. Chapter 2 - What's That, What's That?

**CHAPTER 2 – What's That, What's That?**

It was a dark cold night, under full moon light, Halloween Town was eerily quiet. The large, black, iron lamps that lined the rough, cobbled streets, were flickering in the mild, chilly wind blowing through the town. Ominous creaking noises and screeches were the only sounds in the darkened town of Halloween.

Well, they were the only noises, except one. Two shadowy figures were conversing by the large fountain in the middle of the town square. The water gushing out of the fountain was definitely not water. It was thick, sludgy and had an odd turquoise tinge to it. Not to mention the fact it glowed, like toxic waste. The glowing gloop was pouring out of the mouth of what seemed to represent a dragon-like monster.

"Are we ready to go now?" The smaller figure, a young girl asked, hopping from foot to foot, her purple hair bouncing above her shoulders. The young girl, named Kindle, was dressed in a black dress that ended just above the knee, long black boots and purple and black striped tights. Atop her head, a large, oversized (black, obviously) witches hat was balanced precariously over one of her ears – her purple cat ears.

"Yes, I suppose so..." the other figure, a skeleton, sighed, the girl was always rushing around, like everything has to be done in 3 seconds.

"Yey!" Kindle practically leapt for joy, "Honestly, Jack, you're so slow!" Jack sighed again, her constant happiness was annoying him too.

"Sally set off a while ago, so I guess we must have waited long enough." Jack set off towards the crooked metal gates that closed off the path towards the graveyard and the hinterlands. His long stride was much larger than Kindle's small bounce, but still she managed to keep up with the skeleton, just.

The gate lifted as the pair drew closer to it, making an echoing screech that probably woke up every living – or dead- citizen in Halloween town. Kindle's boots made loud clacking noises against the cobblestone track that was running through the middle of the demonic graveyard.

"So, is that where we're going?" The young girl finally broke the tension between the two, raising her hand and pointing over the graveyard and in to the distance where a tangle of black and white trees were barely visible.

"Yes," Jack glanced at the girl with empty eyes before glancing into the distance also, "The Hinterlands." Kindle could detect a hint of nostalgia in his voice as they kept walking – and bouncing – to their destination. She had of course been told of the time when the leader of her Holiday Town had taken over Christmas time...and how it his plan had gone horribly wrong, but at least the Holiday Towns now knew about each other, but were still yet to meet. One of the reasons Kindle and Jack were heading for the happy town of Valentines. The other reason was that Jack was yet to get Sally, who had gone ahead of them, was that so he could get her a Valentines Day present, and Kindle was there to help.

After a few more minutes of travelling, the two reached the impressive landmark that was The Hinterlands. It was like being in a black and white movie. All of the trees and the ground and all of the shrubs were coloured with all the shades of grey in the spectrum, each fern, tree and blade of grass all different colours from the rest.

Kindle felt like she had been hopping for hours through the sparse, grey woodland.

She was bored, and Jack knew it, if they didn't get to the doors soon, then Kindle was going to go...

Jack quickened his step, Kindle matching it bounce for stride. He knew they must be drawing near the magical clearing now. He looked around him to see if they had missed it, gazing long and hard each way.

"Aghh!" He cried out when he hit something solid, his voice echoing in the empty forest. Jack laughed to see what he had crashed into. It was a tree. But it wasn't a normal door. On it was a large, wood cut-out of a turkey, a golden door-handle shining on it.

"Hehehehee!" Kindle called, laughing at Jack, "I think we're here~!"

Jack rolled his empty eye sockets, "Yeah." He said sarcastically, he'd had enough of Kindle for now.

"Is this it?" Kindle called to Jack who was still rubbing his head. He glanced over to see Kindle standing next to a red, heart-shaped door. He didn't bother to dignify her question with a response.

The young girl looked at the skeleton with a questioning stare, before shrugging, and turning back towards the door. She opened the heart, holding the golden handle tightly, she prepared herself for a sharp, screech from the hinges of the door, but no sound issued from it. Kindle was used to the vicious squeals that doors, gates and hinges of Halloween town, a door that didn't make an ominous noise was new to the girl.

She took a final look at Jack, before opening the door the full way and climbing in slowly, looking down at the seemingly endless darkness below. She took a deep breath to calm her slight nerves, shut her bright green eyes and pushed herself off the edge.

Jack looked back over his shoulder to see where the girl was. With horror, he saw the Valentines Door swinging open, and the rim of a jet-black hat disappearing through the entrance.

"Kindle!?" The skeleton raced to the edge of the dark pit, "Are yo -"

The response came before the next sentence had been uttered from his mouth, "Weeeeeeeeeeeee!" Kindle screamed, joyfully, her voice light with laughter. Jack face-palmed. Sometimes he wondered if the young girl would have been better off in Christmas Town.

Sighing, Jack leapt down the hole, into the darkness. He expected to feel the plummeting sensation he had felt when venturing into Christmas Town, but instead, he felt his fall gradually slowing, the sickening feeling that had been whirling round in his...ribcage, was now dispersing. A sudden squeal sounded below him and he saw Kindle shooting back up to him.

"How are you doing that?" Jack asked, confused about how the she was defying gravity.

"Well, with this slow free-falling, I simply used it to my advantage," she explained, matter-of-factly, before adding almost inaudibly, "With some magic help..." She looked away, grinning slightly.

Jack exhaled heavily, "I'm surprised that even worked." He found himself slowing further to match Kindle's speed. He saw that she was waving her index finger around in a small circle, the cause of the slowness.

"Hmph!" Kindle pouted, "Well, if you're like that..." With a flick of her finger, she sent Jack plummeting down, towards the bottom of the pit. There was a soft _thump _as the skeleton landed at the bottom. Kindle giggled cheerfully and flew down and landed gracefully next to the crumpled, undignified heap that was Jack Skellington.

There was a loud, low creaking of bones as Jack heaved himself out of his mangled position and brushed off his suit.

"Honestly, Kindle, I am seriously reconsidering sending you back."

"Meh." Kindle shrugged, ignoring the threat, and pointed to a large pink sign in front of her, "Look, we're here!"

~00~

_Hey Jemma, anything I can do for you?_ Raven called to the 'scientist' who was working behind a machine. It had been a just over a year now when Raven had moved to Valentines Town, and one of the first things she had learnt was that Jemma wasn't an actual scientist. She was a witch. Her scientist cover was just so the High Council of cupids didn't suspect her, as she was working for them.

"Yeah," Jemma called back, her face deformed through the thick glass of the machine, "Put these on." She tossed the girl a pair of dark sunglasses, which Raven caught with ease. In a swift movement, Raven flicked her hair up from over her eye, pushed the glasses on and let the striped hair fall back into place, all without letting the witch see. In the year that Jemma had known the girl, she had never once seen Raven's right eye, and was constantly wondering what she had to hide.

Jemma shook her head, that didn't matter right now. She put her own set of glasses on, and focused on the machine in front of her. She flicked a green switch on the machine, and heat waves were visible inside. She began rotating her index finger in a complicated motion, uttering a charm.

Raven watched through the dark-rimmed glasses as a bright flash of light penetrated the shade. Raven turned her head away sharply as the flash became brighter, sparks of pink and purple flying in all directions.

_Ah! _The wing girl cried as some of the sparks hit her, making her black clothes smoke and smoulder. Jemma shot an apologetic look at Raven before stopping her incantation. Raven flapped her wings open in alarm, stepping a few paces back. In the large glass dome that was fixed to the machine, a...creature, had appeared inside it.

_What the hell is __**that**__? _Raven exclaimed, staring at the 'thing' inside. The creature was heart-shaped, rosy-pink in colour, with two little white wings flapping rhythmically, keeping it in the air. Hanging loosely over it, was a small purple satchel, brimming with white and pink envelopes.

Jemma chuckled lightly, "To put it simply, this is a messenger," she explained, walking round to Raven whilst motioning at the heart, "It's designed to deliver the Valentines Day cards to everyone everywhere."

The winged girl looked disgusted by the mention of Valentines Cards, and...love. It was something she didn't understand or care about. _Okay, but, all the same, why? I mean, some cupids already have the job of messenger, what's the point?_

"They need help." Jemma explained simply, walking closer to the machine, "And," she added more quietly, "There is an inspection happening today." She glanced nervously around as if someone was watching her.

Raven raised a thin black eyebrow, her eyes narrowing, _An inspection. _It wasn't a question, it was a statement. _Why? _She asked again, it was quickly becoming her most used word.

"Oh, just a routine check, nothing to be worried about..." The woman trailed off, her body stiffening.

Except_ what? _Raven could tell she wasn't telling her something, and the girl hated being kept in the dark.

Jemma's gaze flitted around the room, refusing to meet the girl's penetrating glare.

_Huh. I get it. _Her voice was becoming filled with anger, _You don't want me here, do you? You think that I'm going to ruin everything for you. _Raven looked at Jemma's face and smiled with pleasure as she saw the witch's face contorting with fear and worry. _Well, save your breath. I'm out of here. _

She turned on her heal, making it screech on contact with the floor. She stamped out of the room, spreading her wings out wide, her blue eyes blazing with hatred. She paused at the entrance, _I know you've always wanted to see. _Raven spat spitefully, _Well look. _In a swift movement, Raven shook her hair back from over her right eye.

Jemma took a step back. The girl's eye looked like it was on fire. No. It was. Instead of a pupil, a black fire burned inside the eyeball, surrounded by a shining lake of blue.

Jemma opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, but was cut off by Raven doing something unexpected. The girl slowly opened her palm in front of her. As if on command, a small black flame danced in her open hand, swirling around, making devious patterns in the air.

_Now you know. _With that, Raven swept the hair back in front of her eye and the fire vanished with a small 'poof'.

Jemma finally found her voice, "Wait, I -"

_No, it's too late now. _Raven turned her back on the woman, and with a split-second decision, she held her hand open, pushing her arm behind her back, palm facing Jemma. The fire in her hand ignited again, this time growing bigger, swallowing up the palm and the girl's wrist.

Jemma shook her head disbelievingly, half in fear, "Raven, what are you doing, stop it. Stop it NOW!"

This was the last straw for Raven, no one told her what to do, ever. With a burst of energy, she forced the black fire-ball out of her palm, sending it straight towards Jemma. With a scream the witch leapt out of the way, the fire-ball missing her by an inch, instead soaring past her, colliding with one of the larger machines in the lab. The machine seemed to have contained some sort of flammable gas, which erupted in a wave of heat. Jemma screamed in terror, hiding from the heat in one of the corners of the room.

Raven laughed, her voice ringing through Jemma's mind, chilling the woman to the core. The laugh was full of hatred, full of pain, but also full of joy. Full of happiness at someone else's pain. Without looking back, Raven walked slowly, and steadily out of the door, smoke following her down the winding corridors like a loyal dog.

She worked her way down the hallways until she reached the entrance where she beat the smoke back with a flap of her jet-black wings before opening the two, great doors and looking out into the streets of Valentines town.

Slowly shutting the doors behind her, she strode out into the centre of the street, head held high. Raven soon realised she was getting some odd looks from passers by, then realising that she stood out like a sore thumb in the happy atmosphere of Valentines Town.

Tucking her wings firmly against her back, she veered off the main street and into the shadows at the edge of the road.

~00~

"So this is Valentines Town..." Jack muttered as the pair strode down the main street of the town.

Kindle looked round, an expression of disgust and horror plastered over her face, "It's so...pink..." She made a loud retching noise, "I think I'm going to be sick."

Jack raised the bones where his eyebrow would have been and carried on, ignoring the witch's over-the-top acting.

"Hey!" Kindle cried indignantly, standing up straight from her bending position and hurrying after the skeleton.

Very soon Kindle noticed that they were receiving lots of funny looks from passers by, and realised how well they _didn't _fit in. A girl dressed almost entirely in black with a squint hat and purple hair and cat ears must have looked abnormal, but a skeleton – a very tall one at that – with a creepy grin and wide, empty eye-sockets must have seemed completely out of the ordinary and _scary_.

Kindle glanced nervously around, keeping her head low to avoid any other stares. But one person caught her eye – a blue rag doll with striking red hair.

The witch quickly tugged on Jack's sleeve, motioning in the direction of the rag doll, "Look, it's Sally!"

Jack started, he didn't want Sally to see him until later, so he quickly whispered to Kindle, "She can't see us, we have to wait till tonight, where I'll give her my gift and vice versa."

Kindle nodded, "We just need to distract her..." She paused to think before another thing caught her eye – Sally may be hard to distract, but Kindle could rarely keep her mind on one thing.

"Hey, what's that?" She pointed a finger over in the direction of where she thought she had seen some movement, "Over there, in the shadows." Jack stared at the shadows of the street too, not seeing any movement.

"I don't think there is anything the-" He stopped as a blurring motion caught his eye, "Is that it?" Kindle whipped her head back round and stared intensely at the spot. There it was again, it moved quickly from shadow to shadow, as if it couldn't touch the light.

"What is it?" Kindle asked Jack, unsure about what the seemingly humanoid creature was.

Jack thought for a moment, "It could be a vampire...but I honestly don't know..."

Kindle started bouncing again, clearly excited, "Well let's find out!" Without another word, the witch hopped off after the creature, her hat becoming even more squint than usual.

"Wait, what!?" Jack took off after the girl, finding that Kindle was actually quite fast. She had managed to bounce all the way down the other side of the street after the creature, heading to where they had entered the town.

"Hey, Jack?" Kindle stopped her bounce and looked back at Jack who was just catching up to her, there was an urgent tone in her high voice.

"Yes?" Jack stopped next to Kindle, looking down at her, "Wait! Where's it gone?!"

Kindle nodded, "That's it, but I think I know where it's gone..." She trailed off, and Jack realised he didn't need to ask where she meant – The Hinterlands.

"Well," Kindle grinned, "Let's go!" The witch started to hop off, but found that she couldn't move. "Hey, Jack!" She spotted the long, bony hand on her shoulder and she pouted, "Let GO!"

Jack shook his head, "What about Sally?" He motioned in the direction of the main part of the town, looking unsure.

Kindle gave an exasperated sigh, "But what if that _thing _has managed to get to Halloween Town? Who knows what it could be – it could be _dangerous._"

Jack nodded, "I guess you're right," he said reluctantly, "Let's go." He was somewhat unenthusiastic.

Kindle set off with a determined expression across her face, her springy steps making the solid ground crunch and crackle under her feet.

This time, the journey seemed not to take as long, and they were at the clearing before they knew it. A thudding sound alerted Kindle immediately, she whipped her head round to look at the Halloween Town door which had slammed shut behind someone...or some_thing_. The young witch raced to the pumpkin shaped door and threw it open, pausing to listen to the familiar screech of the hinges of the door. She shook her head to clear it of the echoes of the noise before jumping into the hole in the tree and perching in the thin edge.

She glanced back at Jack who was staring at the direction of Valentines Town, his skull contorted in deep concentration. Kindle rolled her eyes, he was clearly thinking about leaving Sally on her own. The witch turned her attention back to the entrance of Halloween Town. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and pushed herself off the edge, waiting to discover what had arrived in her town.

** A.N. Hey guys! We're back with the next instalment of The Wings of Death. Just a quick note, as of a comment I had; Raven is NOT a witch, Kindle IS. And If you are going to leave a review, please, don't be a hater and don't swear – unless it's to compliment it!**

**If you're going to stick around for the next chapter, then be in for a failish fight scene...and, in real time, it lasts about 5 seconds. But I'm not going to spoil everything for you, so just be patient guys! This is Evil – signing off.**


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